Dr. Phillips Boys, Girls On A Roll

The Panthers' Two Varsity Volleyball Programs Have Combined To Go 32-4 This Season.

October 13, 1996|By Bill Buchalter of The Sentinel Staff

Dr. Phillips' volleyball programs have achieved much success this fall. The boys and girls programs have combined to win 32 of 36 matches, a feat unmatched in Central Florida.

Coach Puff Pagan's boys are used to winning championships. Since boys volleyball became a Metro Conference sport, Dr. Phillips has won five titles - 1989, '90, '92, '93 and '95, the last three under Pagan. The boys are 14-2, both losses coming to powerful Lake Mary (17-1).

The girls have watched first Oak Ridge, then Cypress Creek control the sport's destinies in the conference. Last year, however, they showed strength at the district level, and this time, the Panthers are contending for both titles. Dr. Phillips is 16-2 after losing to Edgewater on Tuesday. Earlier this year, Dr. Phillips beat Edgewater, setting up what could be a rubber match in the Class 6A, District 5 tournament.

Crucial to the girls' success is an ability for this year's team to come together.

The boys have been successful learning and working into a system that puts a premium on passing the ball to the right place at the right time.

Girls coach Sara McLemore said her team has come together quickly.

''My main goal was to find a setter (junior Kristin Coble, a transfer student from Gainesville), and once she was eligible, the team rallied around her. We set up our offense and defense around her,'' McLemore said.

She became eligible for the second match, an early-season showdown against two-time defending champion Cypress Creek, and Dr. Phillips parlayed that victory into the big start it enjoys.

''I take advantage of everything I have,'' Pagan said, describing his system. ''It all comes from the pass. If you can't pass, you can't play this game.''

Nobody passes or sets the ball better than the Panthers boys.

''It's the only way it works with the size I have is to set up a system where everybody knows where to move the ball.''

But whether it's unity, system or tradition, both programs support the other, feed off the other.

''We root for each other, of course,'' Pagan said. ''We're school teams. We come to each other's games. We've got two good programs, both working hard.''

And when you have talented athletes working hard, the results usually are rewarding.

''We have two really good outside hitters in Breah Elliott and Mary Reynolds, both four-year players,'' McLemore said. ''Then we have two middle players in Brooke Schoeffler and Diana Zalewski. Yes, those are the two who won the beach volleyball tournament.

''We also have three or four others who have played club ball, and it makes a difference. Brooke is just like a different girl on the court this year than last year, maturing on the court as a person and an athlete,'' McLemore said.

McLemore said she sometimes is in awe of how her players perform.

''Oviedo beat us, 15-1, in the first game. I changed the lineup, and the girls came back and won the next two. They are just fun to watch when they are on and playing their best.''

Elliott is averaging 10 kills a game and hopes to parlay her play into an opportunity at the college level. Her goal is to become a nurse or a physician's assistant.

An even more important role for the team captain than her kill ratio is trying to keep the team unified, McLemore said.

That role is made easier for Elliott because team members have played together previously.

''Four of us played club ball this summer, and that helped a lot,'' Elliott said. ''There are six of us who pretty much play, and we know who is going to get what ball, who to pass to, who has the better passing angle.''

Elliott said her main job is bringing teammates back together when they do their own thing. ''We don't hang out at school together, but when we hang together in the gym, it's a totally different story, and we get along really well,'' Elliott said.

Elliott knows her teammates well. She describes Coble as ''a '50s girl, she's like a flower child, and we tease her a lot. Then there's Mary (Reynolds), she's a 'Yo' girl who is into booty music, and yet the two get along really well. Now, Maria Palladino is pretty much a comedian, a blast, she's always dancing everywhere.''

Reynolds, who comes from a fanatical sports family, explained that booty music is upbeat. ''It's fast. Half the people I know keep asking, 'What are they saying?' But that kind of music lifts me up, gets my adrenaline pumping, gets me excited and ready to play.''

She said she also believes the difference between previous Panthers teams and this one is togetherness.

''I think we get along a lot better. Our team actually has become a team. We've become one,'' Reynolds said. ''Since we've played together all four years, we know what everybody can do. We all communicate better, too. We yell.